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In Re Electronic Arts, Inc. Securities Litigation 13-CV-05837

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In Re Electronic Arts, Inc. Securities Litigation 13-CV-05837 Case 3:13-cv-05837-SI Document 49 Filed 11/18/14 Page 1 of 60 1 ROBBINS GELLER RUDMAN & DOWD LLP 2 SHAWN A. WILLIAMS (213113) MATTHEW S. MELAMED (260272) 3 EKATERINI M. POLYCHRONOPOULOS (284838) Post Montgomery Center 4 One Montgomery Street, Suite 1800 San Francisco, CA 94104 5 Telephone: 415/288-4545 415/288-4534 (fax) 6 [email protected] 7 POMERANTZ LLP JEREMY A. LIEBERMAN 8 600 Third Avenue New York, NY 10016 9 Telephone: 212/661-1100 212/661-8665 (fax) 10 [email protected] 11 Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs 12 [Additional counsel appear on signature page.] 13 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 14 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 15 In re ELECTRONIC ARTS, INC. ) Master File No. 3:13-cv-05837-SI SECURITIES LITIGATION ) 16 ) CLASS ACTION ) 17 ) This Document Relates To: AMENDED CONSOLIDATED ) COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE 18 ) FEDERAL SECURITIES LAWS ALL ACTIONS. ) 19 ) DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL RYAN KELLY and LOUIS MASTRO, ) 20 Individually and on Behalf of All Others ) Similarly Situated, ) 21 ) Plaintiffs, ) 22 ) vs. ) 23 ) ELECTRONIC ARTS, INC., ANDREW ) 24 WILSON, BLAKE J. JORGENSEN, PETER ) ROBERT MOORE, and FRANK D. GIBEAU, ) 25 ) Defendants. ) 26 ) ) 27 28 983916_2 Case 3:13-cv-05837-SI Document 49 Filed 11/18/14 Page 2 of 60 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 Page 3 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 4 SUMMARY OF THE ALLEGATIONS .........................................................................................3 5 JURISDICTION AND VENUE ......................................................................................................8 6 PARTIES .........................................................................................................................................9 7 BACKGROUND TO THE CLASS PERIOD ...............................................................................10 8 Description of the Company and the Battlefield Game Franchise .....................................10 9 A Successful Launch of Battlefield 4 During 3Q14 Was Crucial to EA’s Business and 3Q14 and FY14 Financial Results ..............................................................................11 10 Defendants Knew that Battlefield 4 Would Have to Work on Next-Generation 11 Gaming Consoles to Meet Expectations They Had Set with Analysts and Investors .............................................................................................................................13 12 Defendants Publicly Acknowledged Failures and Lessons Learned from Prior 13 Failed Game Launches .......................................................................................................13 14 EA Demonstrates Battlefield 4 Graphics and Action Sequences to Strong Reviews ........17 15 DEFENDANTS’ FALSE AND MISLEADING STATEMENTS AND OMISSIONS OF MATERIAL FACT ........................................................................................................................19 16 Defendants Falsely Represent that EA Has “De-Risked” Battlefield 4’s 17 Technology Platform .........................................................................................................19 18 Reasons Why Defendants’ May 7, 2013, June 12, 2013 and July 23, 2013 Statements in ¶¶66, 73 and 77 Were Knowingly or Recklessly False and 19 Misleading: ........................................................................................................................24 20 Battlefield 4 Launches for Existing Consoles and Defendants Falsely Represent that Their Next-Generation Launch Software Is Well Ahead of the Transition ................26 21 Reasons Why Defendants’ October 29, 2013 Statements in ¶¶85-86 Were 22 Knowingly or Recklessly False and Misleading: ...............................................................27 23 Gamers Begin to Play Battlefield 4 and Are Confronted by Debilitating Defects that Made the Game Unplayable ........................................................................................29 24 Defects with Battlefield 4 for Next-Generation Consoles Begin to Become Known 25 and Defendants Concede Some Problems, but the Stock Price Remains Artificially Inflated ............................................................................................................34 26 Defendants Largely Concede the True Extent of Battlefield 4’s Defects and Stop 27 Production on All New Products Until the Game Is Fixed; Artificial Inflation Is Removed from Stock Price ................................................................................................36 28 983916_2 CONSOLIDATED COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE FED. SECS. LAWS - 3:13-cv-05837-SI - i - Case 3:13-cv-05837-SI Document 49 Filed 11/18/14 Page 3 of 60 1 2 Page 3 Post-Class Period Revelations Underscore and Confirm the Inference of Knowing 4 Falsity .................................................................................................................................38 5 DEFENDANTS’ SUSPICIOUSLY-TIMED INSIDER STOCK SALES .....................................42 6 THE PSLRA SAFE HARBOR DOES NOT APPLY ...................................................................44 7 CONTROL PERSON ALLEGATIONS........................................................................................45 8 LOSS CAUSATION/ECONOMIC LOSS ....................................................................................46 9 CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS AND THE FRAUD-ON-THE-MARKET PRESUMPTION ............................................................................................................................47 10 COUNT I ...........................................................................................................................49 11 For Violation of Section 10(b) of the 1934 Act and Rule 10b-5 Against All 12 Defendants Except Jorgensen ................................................................................49 13 COUNT II ..........................................................................................................................50 14 For Violation of Section 20(a) of the 1934 Act Against Defendants Wilson, Jorgensen, Moore and Gibeau ..................................................................50 15 PRAYER FOR RELIEF ................................................................................................................51 16 JURY DEMAND ...........................................................................................................................52 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 983916_2 CONSOLIDATED COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE FED. SECS. LAWS - 3:13-cv-05837-SI - ii - Case 3:13-cv-05837-SI Document 49 Filed 11/18/14 Page 4 of 60 1 INTRODUCTION 2 Court appointed co-lead plaintiffs Ryan Kelly and Louis Mastro and plaintiff Manh Linh 3 Diep (collectively, “plaintiffs”), individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, allege the 4 following based on personal knowledge as to plaintiffs and plaintiffs’ acts, and upon information and 5 belief as to all other matters based on the investigation conducted by and through plaintiffs’ 6 attorneys, which included, among other things, a review of U.S. Securities and Exchange 7 Commission (“SEC”) filings by Electronic Arts, Inc., as well as media and analyst reports about 8 9 Electronic Arts, Inc. and conference call transcripts. Plaintiffs believe that additional evidentiary 10 support will exist for the allegations set forth herein after a reasonable opportunity for discovery. 11 1. This is a securities class action on behalf of all persons who purchased or otherwise 12 acquired the publicly-traded common stock of Electronic Arts, Inc. (“EA” or the “Company”) 13 between May 8, 2013 and December 5, 2013, inclusive (the “Class Period”), against EA and several 14 of its officers and executives for violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“1934 Act”) and 15 SEC Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. Defendants are EA; Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and 16 director Andrew Wilson; Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) Blake J. Jorgensen1; Chief Operating 17 Officer (“COO”) Peter Robert Moore; and President of EA Labels Frank D. Gibeau (collectively 18 “defendants”). 19 2. As alleged herein, the Amended Consolidated Complaint for Violations of the Federal 20 Securities Laws (“AC”) pleads detailed facts that address fully the deficiencies identified by the 21 Court’s October 20, 2014 Order Granting Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ Consolidated 22 Class Action Complaint with Leave to Amend (Dkt. No. 45 ) (“MTD Order”). Among other things, 23 the AC provides the following additional facts: 24 25 26 27 1 Plaintiffs do not allege that Jorgensen violated §10(b) of the 1934 Act but contend that he is 28 liable as a control person under §20(a). 983916_2 CONSOLIDATED COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE FED. SECS. LAWS - 3:13-cv-05837-SI - 1 - Case 3:13-cv-05837-SI Document 49 Filed 11/18/14 Page 5 of 60 1 (a) Important context establishing that defendants’ false and misleading 2 statements alleged herein were, in fact, material to investors as they were specific, not vague 3 statements of immaterial puffery. 4 (b) The specific definition and industry usage for the word de-risk, which 5 defendants used repeatedly to falsely assure investors the Company had resolved development 6 deficiencies that had caused technical problems with prior game launches, and additional context 7 demonstrating that defendants’ use of the word de-risk was particularly well-understood and 8
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